Dereliction of land by mining activities within the broad range of dereliction caused by other industrial and human activities was examined. Special attention was paid to impacts, mitigation, and costs thereof. Mine reclamation was examined in detail with special reference to professional interpretations. Mine reclamation bonding was studied with reference to environmental management planning so as to contribute to a forthcoming regulation concerning exactly these matters by providing a detailed listing of mining operations to be geared toward mine reclamation in Turkey&rsquo / s conditions and by providing key concepts in the inception of a draft regulation concerning mine reclamation as part of the EU accession program.

This study aims to investigate different orbit determination algorithms for the first Turkish remote sensing satellite, BiLSAT-1. The micro-satellite carries an onboard GPS receiver. Pseudorange measurements simulated from the position and velocity data supplied by T&Uuml / BiTAK-BiLTEN are used for the implementation of different orbit determination algorithms concluding to an estimate of the satellite&rsquo / s state. Satellite&rsquo / s position, velocity components and the GPS receiver&rsquo / s clock bias are selected as the state parameters to be estimated. Kalman filter algorithms are used for the estimation of these state parameters. The modeled affecting force components include / geopotential and atmospheric drag. The global gravity models EGM96 and EIGEN-CG03C have been utilized together with Harris Priester atmospheric density model for the force modeling. The effect of the changes during the implementation of the force models, numerical integration, and estimation algorithms are investigated. Software has been developed using MATLAB programming language for the implementation of all algorithms performed in this study for orbit determination.

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Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a powerful technique for relatively efficiency measurement and it is intensively used in different kind of disciplines but this technique has some drawbacks. In the conventional DEA technique, total number of inputs and outputs is determined by the number of evaluated firms. Therefore, this powerful efficiency measurement technique cannot be employed for limited number firm problems. DEA uses realized data so it can be used for objective evaluations. However, in some Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and mining cases, subjective evaluation is also very important so it should be included in DEA analyses. To get rid of these drawbacks, a new technique is developed with integration of DEA and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and it is named as AHP.DEA Method. The developed method creates an opportunity using more inputs and outputs in the relatively efficiency measurement for limited number firm cases. Therefore, reliability of the estimation is increased with increasing the number of inputs and outputs in the estimations. The AHP.DEA technique also integrates both subjective opinion of experts and objective evaluation. Combination of them can give more consistent results when compared only subjective or objective evaluation methods. After the application of AHP.DEA method in mining and OHS industry, managers of mining companies can compare their organizations with the competitors or their branches and they can identify strengths and weakness of them. Therefore, quantity and quality of output may be increased while number of accidents is decreased and also new opportunities can be identified to upgrade current operations.

Ground vibrations from blasting are acoustic waves that propagate through the earth. They are also termed seismic waves because their propagation characteristics are similar to the ground motions produced by earthquakes. Amplitude of ground vibration induced by blasting may vary significantly at or around an open pit mine depending on parameters such as the maximum amount of explosive detonating at a time interval and the physical distance between the shot and the location of concern, whereas the frequency of vibration mainly vary depending on the geology and blast delay intervals. Therefore evaluation and assessment of ground vibration condition at or around an open pit mine is necessary. The objective of the proposed research study is to monitor and record the ground vibration and to investigate and assess the vibration conditions at neighbouring districts that are induced by production blasting operations at Usak KiSladag Gold Mine. In this research study, several parameters such as the ground vibration velocity, the amount of charge per delay, the physical distance to the location of monitoring device or residential structures are recorded, analyzed and evaluated together with the frequencies of the seismic waves. The determined ground vibration velocities are compared with the allowable limits given in Turkish Regulation and US Federal Regulation. Thus, the compliance of the ground vibrations with the above mentioned regulations are discussed and assessed. Furthermore, the parameters which affect the ground vibration are discussed and determined. In this study, the monitored and the recorded ground vibrations are evaluated from structural damage potential and human disturbance points of views. It is determined that the ground vibration levels recorded during this study and analyzed from the past records comply with Turkish and US Federal regulations. It is concluded that no damage has been occurred in structures at surrounding settlements and the occupants were not disturbed by the direct effect of vibrations in the past and at present. The analysis proved that the blasting operations to be conducted in the future will not create any damage and disturbance provided that the charge detonated per delay is kept less than 155 kg&amp / #8217 / s.

Real-time optimization of drilling parameters during drilling operations aims to optimize weight on bit, bit rotation speed for obtaining maximum drilling rate as well as minimizing the drilling cost. The process is considered to be formation specific. A statistical method such as multiple linear regression technique has been used for the drilling optimization. An extensive literature survey on drilling optimization was conducted for this research study. A model is developed for this purpose using actual field data collected through modern well monitoring and data recording systems, which predicts the rate of drilling penetration as a function of available parameters. The rate of penetration general equation is optimized for effective functions at each data point. In order to optimize the parameters in the field, a computer network is required to be developed. The computer network will keep the piped data directly from the data source, and continuously be collecting the new data to be fed. A database present at the central computer will be continuously calculating the developed model parameters by means of multiple regression technique and inform the team at the field. The field engineer will transmit the current drilling parameters back to the central computer, and the headquarters will determine the new model parameters and optimum drilling parameters by including the recently received information. Therefore, there will be a real-time-optimization process. It is considered that this technique is going to be widely used in future drilling activities since it could reduce drilling costs and minimize probability of encountering problems due to working with optimized parameters. It has been found that drilling rate of penetration could be modelled in real-time environment as a function of independent drilling variables such as weight on bit, rotation speed of the string, drilling fluid weight, and formation characteristics. The ability to have the drilling rate of penetration with respect to depth characteristically with certain parameters for specific formations on real-time basis could bring new insights to the nature of drilling optimization studies. Any significant departure of the actual rate of penetration from the predicted rate of penetration trend could have important indications which could be detected beforehand in real-time. The study has also achieved one of its objectives, giving the optimized independent drilling parameters found following statistical synthesis.

In this thesis, in-situ instantaneous cutting rates of boom type, medium-weight milling type roadheaders (Mk-2B) at &Ccedil / ayirhan Coal Mine are determined by studying previous performance tests and carrying out additional underground cutting tests. Some rock properties such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Cone Indenter hardness, Shore hardness, Schmidt hammer rebound hardness and laboratory cutting specific energies are determined by laboratory tests for the rock and coal types encountered in the drivage of roadways. The relations between the instantaneous cutting rates and the above rock characteristics and the laboratory cutting specific energies are established. The results show that instantaneous cutting rates can be best predicted using laboratory cutting specific energy which provides the highest correlation (R2 = 0.8411) as compared to other rock properties. The model developed for the medium-weight machine to predict instantaneous cutting rate is compared with those developed earlier for the light-weight and heavy-weight machines. It is determined that improvements in cutting performance with the medium-weight machines as compared to light-weight machines is achieved for the rocks requiring laboratory cutting specific energy greater than 5 MJ/m3.

Y&ouml / rg&uuml / &ccedil / village is within the close neighbourhood of the Western Lignite Corporation Y-3 panel. Although the nearest part of the mine is 1100 m and the farthest part is 2500 m from the village at present, some of the villagers complained about the ground vibration at the past. Therefore the assessment of damage risk and, if any, control and minimization of vibrations constitutes the aim and the scope of this research work. The researh work consists of monitoring of vibration, characterising of the seismic waves by full wave form analysis, and determination of magnitude and frequency of the waves from round blasting practice. Also dominant frequencies are determined, using single-hole blasting records by special software. The analyses are continued by a critical discussion and evaluation, and, proposals for new firing methods are made. The proposed firing methods are validated by further monitoring. As a result the best blasting practice was selected and offered to control and minimize the ground vibration.

Cancer immunotherapy has gained attention in recent years for its successes in potentiating immune responses that can elicit tumor control. In particular, adoptive cell therapy (ACT), which involves the autologous/allogeneic transplant of ex vivo-cultivated tumor-specific T lymphocytes, can mediate potent tumor recognition and killing; however, durable clinical responses are often difficult to obtain in solid tumors. Solid tumors and their unique microenvironments have the capacity to evade and suppress antitumor immune responses and represent significant hurdles for effective ACT. Recently, we have discovered that chemical inhibition of histone deacetylases via MS-275 (Entinostat) during ACT can subvert tumor resistance to foster potent, broad-spectrum antitumor immunity. Overall, the work described supports the efficacy of ACT in the treatment of immunosuppressive, solid tumors; however, consistency in durable clinical outcomes can only be achieved through the concurrent therapeutic targeting of tumor resistance mechanisms. This thesis uses pre-clinical models to describe how tumor resistance to ACT can manifest, and demonstrates that concurrent MS-275 delivery drives extensive immunomodulation to promote sustained tumor clearance. This includes: 1) The polarization of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells into cytotoxic effectors with the ability to reject immune escape variants 2) The inflammatory remodeling of the tumor microenvironment to potentiate epitope spreading against secondary tumor antigens 3) The transcriptional reprogramming of adoptively transferred T cells to overcome tumor-burden-dependent exhaustion We expect that the results will help facilitate the development of next-generation ACT platforms that will feature strategies for multi-mechanistic perturbation of tumor resistance. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The host immune system has the ability to recognize and destroy tumor cells. Therapeutic platforms that leverage antitumor immune cells, specifically T cells, have shown potency in the elimination of cancer. In the clinic, cancer immunotherapies have demonstrated early success against hematological malignancies; however, are unreliable in the treatment of solid tumors. Solid tumors utilize intrinsic and adapted mechanisms of resistance to mitigate the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy. This thesis pursues research questions aimed at understanding how tumors resist immunotherapy, what mechanisms are utilized, and how to overcome these obstacles. We anticipate that these results will contribute to the development and incorporation of strategies to subvert tumor resistance and potentiate T cells against solid tumors.

Research by design refers to the design of architectural research as an integral part of architectural design processes. In 1980s, it emerged as a third way in design research that was dominated until then by the methods of natural sciences and humanities. With this new formulation of design research, a methodological and epistemological transformation occurs, leading to the integration of practical knowledge into architectural research. The primary epistemological question transforms from knowing what design is and knowing how to design to knowing what through the act of design. The integration of the act of design in research transforms the status of design in design research from being an object of inquiry to being a research approach. In the literature on research by design, this transformation is often related with Donald Sch&ouml / n&rsquo / s conceptualization of &ldquo / reflective practice.&rdquo / The main discussion of reflective practice is primarily methodological rather than epistemological. Although it provides methodological insights, it is not sufficient to constitute an epistemological basis for research by design. Thus, the epistemological basis of research by design has not yet been adequately defined. In this study, the notion of &ldquo / reflective practice&rdquo / is investigated in a broader context relating it to its sources in the concepts of &ldquo / tacit knowledge&rdquo / and &ldquo / action research.&rdquo / A conceptual framework for research by design is constructed by relating these concepts with the discussions on research by design and with practical philosophy, the implications of which has remained rather uninvestigated in this context. Aristotle&rsquo / s elaboration of knowledge generation in action and the concept of phron&amp / #275 / sis (practical knowledge, prudence, or practical wisdom) constitute the underpinning of this conceptual framework. The conceptual framework that is constructed on the basis of the key concepts in practical philosophy is discussed in the context of architectural design education. When architectural design education is formulated as a process of research by design within this framework, knowledge generated in the educational design processes promises not only to improve the particular educational context and architectural education but eventually to contribute to architectural knowledge.